Future Imperfect
by Marie MacLir
Summary: Waking up to find himself in an unfamiliar time and place Ezio meets Desmond for real. But as Desmond brings up the impossiblity of this, William and Shaun search for a newly captured Desmond and Rebecca. Things get complicated as they continue their search for answers and this time the answer might not be as simple as living an ancestors life.
1. Chapter 1

Ezio turned as the area got dark, something was wrong. He heard voices as he tried to fight but couldn't move.

"He's waking up!" one, a male said.

"Give him a dose of sedative. He can't wake up!" a different voice, female.

"We can't! More would kill him!" the male said again.

He heard steps and felt a hand on his neck, like someone was feeling for his pulse. He tried to get away but his body felt like lead. "Execute protocol Gamma Seven." The person above him; a man who was older than the first, commanded. Ezio automatically didn't like him.

He felt several pricks in his arms and legs. He tried to move his hands but his arms were strapped down. "Grahh!" he shouted to the darkness at the figures he couldn't see. Something strange was pressed to his face surrounding his nose and mouth. It was getting harder to breathe. He tried to open his eyes but they wouldn't open.

He felt himself fall into darkness.

"Something's wrong!" the woman said.

"Files are not activating. Something's wrong with the system!" the younger man said as urgently as the woman.

"Scrub the system. Our guest isn't going…where…take…sures…off…iles…ssissns…"

Ezio fell from the voices in the darkness.

He felt like he was both floating and falling. He felt like his mind was so cloudy and he couldn't focus on anything. _What's happening to me?_ He wondered.

_**ACCTTTIVVVAATT-ING-ING-GGGG"**_ A strange metallic voice said from everywhere and no where. _**EMERGE-EM-EM-EM-MMMERGE-EMERGENCY LINK-INK-LINK UP-PPP**_

Bright sky blue appeared around Ezio and he began to fall backwards. He plunged into water that didn't feel like real water. He came up and looked around as he tread water. "Ezio!"

He turned and saw a blonde man wearing strange unfamiliar clothes. He was waving and shouting at him trying to get his attention.

Ezio swam to the man as the stranger ran up to him, helping him up. _**EZZ...**__gah!"_ he said shaking his head. "Who are you?" Ezio demanded.

"_No time!"_ the mans voice was pitched strange. _"Loo-oo-ook. I kn-kn-know you_ have no reason to trust me. But I'm on your side. Go!" he pointed and a grey wire like bridge appeared and solidified.

"You need to go and run. They don't know what I've done… But they _will_ find out soon. The farther you are into the system, the harder it will be for them to find you. But there is a safe place. Find our mark!" he said shoving Ezio on the bridge and snapped his fingers. The island began to disappear. "I'll meet you both soon" he said then turned and ran through a flash of light and disappeared.

"WAIT! What do you mean both!?" Ezio called but he was already gone. He shook his head and started running.

The run seemed endless; soon the blue sky and ocean were all he had to see besides the bridge. He felt like he was moving past the same point, even though there was nothing he could use to give reference to how far he was going. It was an endless bridge before him and nothing behind him. Each step caused part of the bridge to disappear into nothingness.

Finally up ahead he found a large circle that the bridge led to hovering in open air as the Ocean and sky ended leaving only black and bluish surrounding lines that unnerved him a little. Etched onto the circle was a stained glass picture of the assassin's symbol. He stepped onto the circle and stopped in the middle. "Here is the symbol… so where is he?"

He turned as he heard footsteps behind him. A man with short cropped hair and stubble, wearing a white shirt and something slung on his back was running towards him. He slowed to a stop and stared at Ezio. "You… You're Ezio… Ezio Auditore."

Ezio took a step back. "How do you know my name?"

He watched the man shake his head and put his hands on it, as if his head was injured. "Man… Seriously…I… Seriously…"

He walked onto the circle and it flashed.

They stumbled back as the circle zoomed upwards and suddenly stopped. The Assassin Symbol shined in front of them.

"I thought…Figures." The man said as he walked up and touched it. The surrounding area shattered like glass and they were standing on an island similar to the one before.

"Welcome." A male voice said behind them. Ezio jumped to fight. The man simply turned and blinked. "Subject Sixteen!? He said surprised. The blonde haired man wearing a blue shirt and grey pants from before sat on a rock as if he was waiting for them. "You know him?" Ezio asked. "You could say so. Our relationship is a bit difficult to describe. Welcome to my place on the network." Subject Sixteen smiled. He got up. "I know you have questions and there is _a lot_ to explain so we best get you all inside where it is safe and we can talk." He walked over and touched his palm to a tree. The island dissolved and wire frames and shapes appeared. Soon color was added and they were standing in something that could comfortably be called a study.

"Where are we?" the man asked.

"I based this house around the home I had growing up. Go with what's familiar you know? My dad seemed to think it was foolish that I went to computer engineering… heh… wish he could see what I do now... Anyway. Have a seat. I'll explain. But first…" he turned and pointed to Ezio and then to the man.

"Ezio Auditore, Meet Desmond Miles."

"Nice to make your acquaintance." Ezio replied unsure but decided to go with it for now.

Sixteen sat down on a lounging chair while Ezio and Desmond both took opposite sides of a couch. "First off, you two are in the Animus." Desmond turned his head and cursed under his breath. Ezio blinked. "Ani-what?"

Desmond answered, "It's a machine, used to access people's genetic memory. Their parents, ancestors…It's complicated."

"There is more." Sixteen began. "Ezio. You, like Desmond, have been captured by the Templars." Ezio's eyes widened. "But not Templars from your time."

Desmond shot up and looked at Ezio like he suddenly grew another head and ten more arms. "Wait…but… How? I thought…" he trailed off and sat down his head in his hands, he gave a soft moan and leaned back laying his head on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Abstergo, the business the templars are using as their cover, used a piece of Eden to bring Ezio to our time."

It was Ezio's turn to look confused. "I don't understand."

"I will explain. The current year is 2012. A little more than five centuries after your lifetime."

Ezio san back further in the couch. His face was rigid but slightly pale. "They used a piece of Eden that can alter time to bring you to a future time. To bring you here. They want to use you to find something in your memory. I'm still trying to figure out what."

Ezio nodded. "This is a little much but I think I understand. So why and how did we get here."

"I thought you were destroyed…" Desmond said softly. Sixteen winked. "I entered into Abstergos network when I uploaded the ciphers. I also linked a small piece of my conscious when we met before on Animus Island so that I'm observing when you enter the Animus in case Abstergo did something. Can't be too careful." He smirked. "When Abstergo tried to access your memories I activated "Deep Slumber" it's a program I made that sent your minds here. Where they can't get to you. Locked you away safe."

"So what? We're in a coma or something?" Desmond asked.

"For now. They can't get in without running the Wake Up Alarm program." Sixteen nodded. "I sent the only outside copy to William from a place no where near any Templars. He knows you are here. So do the rest of them."

"Who is William?" Ezio asked.

Desmond nodded. "My dad. He's the leader of the Assassins in this time." He rubbed his hand against his knee. Ezio noticed the hidden blade on his arm. "He'll come. I know he will."

"So what do we do then?" Ezio asked. "Sit back and wait?"

"For now yes. I…" Sixteen flinched. "Have-have-have to go-o-o-o… Losing-ing-ing energy. Trace me to you…" He stood. "Be back later with _updates…"_ he said as he started dissolving _"Make-make-ake yourselves –selves __**selves at home."**_ His voice said as they looked around alone.

_**ISSSSAFFEEHEERREE…**_


	2. Chapter 2

Shawn opened his eyes and checked his watch bleary eyed. Midnight, he'd been asleep for two hours. He groaned, his head still pounded from banging it on six separate things in two seconds.

"You can't sleep either?" a female voice asked. He looked over and saw a woman with auburn hair and brown eyes looking down at him. "Vixen?" Shawn asked rubbing his eyes. "Yea. Miles said to keep an eye on you. How are you?"

Shawn sat up and gasped for air falling back onto the mattress. "Are you alright?" she asked. "You should take it easy.

Shawn rubbed his head. "You take it easy." He said climbing into a sitting position.

He stood and saw the light on in the other room." He's still awake isn't he?"

"Three hours of sleep that happened yesterday, nineteen hours awake, six pots of coffee, one bottle of aspirin and about five seconds from me knocking him out."

Shawn nodded. William was the leader of the Assassins. About seventeen hours ago they had lost Desmond and Rebecca in a kidnapping. Being that William was also Desmond's father, he was not taking it well.

"I'll hold him down if you'd like." Shawn said fumbling for his glasses. Vixen handed them to him. "Alright. Let's see what we can find out."

They moved into the main room. "Find anything yet?" Shawn asked. A man wearing a grey shirt shook his head and gulped down the last of what was in his mug. He held it behind him.

Vixen sighed and took it then looked at the coffee machine. "You're out of coffee."

"Make another pot." William said.

Vixen sighed and shook her head. She looked at Shawn with a dark eye. "Make him go to bed!" she mouthed. He nodded.

"Hey Bill. Why don't you go get some rest? Vixen and I will take over here." He said as he pulled at a stack of papers from under Williams arm.

"IVE GOT IT!" he snapped pushing Shaun away, sending the pages flying every which way. "You shouldn't be up. Get some rest."

Shaun shook his head and gave a helpless gesture to Vixen. She stormed over and grabbed William pulling him off the stool. "LOOK! Ever since the accident all Shaun and I have ever done _IS_ rest."

William knocked her back. "Don't you talk… to me… like that! I am going… To find. My. SON." He spat as he stumbled back.

"_You_ are going to botch any hope of finding _either_ of them." Shaun countered. "Look at yourself. You can't even stand up straight or talk right. Two can work faster than one."

William put a hand to his head and sighed. "Not… you too…" he muttered.

Vixen gave a hard sigh. "Look at yourself. You are falling asleep on your feet. Go to bed. We'll take care of this and wake you up when something happens."

William opened his mouth but stumbled backwards. "Overruled" Vixen spat as Shaun helped William to the room.

"Vixen, why don't you get started. I'll be back in a moment." He said

Vixen nodded and knelt down and started picking up the scattered pages that were strewn on the floor. She tapped them together and, righting the overturned stool, began looking through them.

She heard a soft click and Shaun went to the kitchen and pulled the decanter off the heater. He poured two cups. "Vixen?" he asked. "Three four." She replied.

He set her cup next to her and sat across from her at the table.

"You locked the door." Vixen said

"Huh?" Shaun asked "I'm sorry. Is something the matter?" he raised a brow leaning past the screen

"Absolutely nothing." She smiled

A few hours passed as they looked and searched. They sat quietly not saying anything. Three hours later the door began to rattle.

"We're ignoring you!" Shaun called.

"Mhrm" Vixen nodded. A minute later the noise stopped.

More time passed as they worked. Finally the dark black of the sky lightened into an orange and red hue.

Shaun yawned. "Tired?" Vixen asked. "Not really. Just feeling like we are missing something."

"Like what?" she asked folding her hands and putting her chin on top of them.

"I don't know. The bad news is I think what we are missing we are missing because we don't have it." He said throwing the book he was looking at on the table. He shook his head and paused as he heard his computer ding.

"An email?" Shaun said.

"Someone is sending you mail?" Vixen asked.

"The only one who does is currently locked in the other room." He said sliding into his chair. He clicked on his inbox and blinked. "Sbj16CK"

"Subject Sixteen C.K.?" Vixen said. "I thought… Wasn't he dead?"

Shaun nodded and then shrugged. "That is apparently a bit of a grey area, currently his last known location was in the black room in the animus but…Its complicated to say the least." He said scanning the mail then opening it.

Inside was a bunch of random letters numbers and symbols of various origins. "It's a code. It has to be. Give me a moment to decrypt it." He said. "Can you decrypt it?" Vixen asked.

Shaun gave her a look. "That's kinda why I'm saying to give me a moment Vixen. Get me an apple. I'm starving."

Vixen tossed him one from the bag. He caught it and stuck it in his mouth while he typed. Finally he pulled it off and started to eat it.

"Go wake up Bill. He'll want to see this." He said after a moment.

Vixen went to the dark room and unlocked the door. Walking to the older mans form on the mattress she shook him gently.

"Hey… Hey… Wake up."

Urnmph?" William said.

"We have something." She replied.

Williams's eyes snapped open. He threw himself up and stumbled to his feet moving as fast as he could to Shaun's side.

"What is it?" he asked.

"One sec. I'm getting rid of all the extra little pieces…. There…"

They looked at the new email.

From: Sbj16CK

Sub: Lost and found.

MSG:

I heard DESMOND had grown up from you talking so much about him, but I never expected to see him so tall. AND EZIO, he's even bigger! what is IN the food thAt's beiNg gIven to theM? yoU Should have put a brick on their heads.

BOTH BOYS are DOING FINE AND being SAFE

bye FOR NOW

Clay

What did he mean? Ezio?" Vixen asked.

William ran a hand through his graying hair. "I don't know…" Shaun shrugged. "I know Ezio is one of Desmond's ancestors. He's done a few runs in the Animus under him. But the point is also that Desmond, and whoever Ezio is, are being thrown in the animus. We just got Desmond back from almost cracking his brain like an egg using it.

William reached around Shaun and clicked reply.

_Thanks for taking care of my son on such short notice Clay. I hate to leave him alone all the time but that's the business that I do…At least you are a good friend and can take care of him while I'm on my business trip._

_I don't remember Ezio but if he is ANYTHING like my son he'll need watching over too. Keep them safe._

_Tell Desmond that Daddy loves him and that I'll be there soon._

_Billy_

"There. And Send" Shaun said.

Vixen nodded. "And hope there isn't a trap. By the way. I found something in that "extra data" Shaun. It's an incomplete file. I can't figure out what it's supposed to do without the rest of the data."

"Quarantine it for now Vixen." William said. "Lets keep an eye out for more of Clay's messages and hope they are alright." He turned to the window and looked out at the rising sun.


	3. Chapter 3

Ezio walked around the house looking at the strange devices. He was in a large room with two couches and a chair. A large flat rectangle with black glass was mounted on a wall. He wasn't sure what it did and left it alone. He moved to a door and opened it. He found the room was a kitchen and Desmond was standing inside what looked like a pantry. He was looking at the shelves and such like he was debating what to eat.

Clay appeared sitting at the bar on the other side of the counter. "None of that is real you know…" Ezio turned and blinked. "How do you do that? Blink in and out like a firefly?" he asked. Clay smiled and stood up. "Like _THIS_" he hissed as he suddenly appeared an inch from Ezio's face. Ezio stumbled backwards into a counter.

"Clay…" Desmond said with a tired tone. Sixteen smiled evilly and stepped back. "You know none of this is real right?" Desmond shrugged as he grabbed a yellow bag that said Lay's on it. "I know. I know. I'm just REALLY hungry. So maybe if I think I'm eating something and act like I'm eating something I won't be hungry." He replied.

Sixteen shook his head and reached into the bag grabbing a handful for him. "Ezio?" Desmond asked holding out the bag. "Lay's? What are Lays."

"Potato chips. Try one." He offered. Ezio shook his head. "No thank you. Not right now."

Clay shrugged and swiped the bag from Desmond. "More for me." He said disappearing.

"I swear he does that intentionally…" Desmond sighed as he turned and grabbed an orange from the bowl of fruit on the counter and hopped up to sit on the counter next to the sink. He began to peel the orange and throw the pieces into the sink.

Ezio reached over and took an apple and bit into it. "He definitely has the tendency to act strangely that is for certain. Who is he anyway?"

"Him? Subject Sixteen. But his name is Clay. He was, is, whatever, he's an assassin like us."

"Is? Was?" Ezio asked swallowing part of the apple. Desmond sighed and shook his head. "To be honest the technical term is rather tricky. His body is dead but his soul, sprit whatever you want to call it is the one that is walking around here annoying us." He said in an aggravated tone. Ezio tilted his head.

"What is the matter? He asked.

Desmond shook his head. "Right now the two of us are stuck in the Animus, trapped basically. Another assassin, Rebecca, is also captured somewhere but I don't know where which means the Templars have her and who knows what is happening to her and I have no clue if my Dad, Shawn and Vixen made it out safely."

"Are they also assassins?" Ezio asked. Desmond nodded. "Yes. All three of them. But the thing is with everything that has happened I am not sure if they are okay or not."

_Dingdong… You have mail!_

"What was that?" Ezio asked turning around and looking.

"I think I know what it is but... Come on." He said walking down the hall. They found a computer in what appeared to be an office. There was a pop up on the screen. Desmond set the orange down and took the mouse as he sat down. Ezio looked confused at the machine but shrugged as Desmond seemed to know what he was doing.

The pop up read that they had one waiting message. "What does that mean?" Ezio asked. "It means we have an e-mail. We can send letters to each other on this device called a computer. People find out they have letters from the messages" said Desmond as he clicked on the 'read' button. He blinked in surprise at the message.

_Thanks for taking care of my son on such short notice Clay. I hate to leave him alone all the time but that's the business that I do…At least you are a good friend and can take care of him while I'm on my business trip._

_I don't remember Ezio but if he is ANYTHING like my son he'll need watching over too. Keep them safe._

_Tell Desmond that Daddy loves him and that I'll be there soon._

_Billy_

Ezio read over his shoulder. "Billy?" he asked. Desmond nodded, "My Dad." He said with a bit of relief in his voice. "It means that Clay got a hold of them. They'll come for us. For now we need to hold out and wait. He said chewing a piece of orange then nodded to himself. He pulled the keyboard towards him and hit reply.

_Dear Dad,_

_We are doing fine. Ezio and I are getting along great. He is a lot taller in person than I thought he would be._

Ezio glanced at him as he typed. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. "I'm trying to think of something to let Dad know that we are okay but at the same time not give away where we are or where they are."

Ezio nodded, "I think they are probably a little surprised to find out that you are in our own time, they may be confused." Desmond added. "Tell them it's me." He said shifting his stance.

Desmond paused a moment and nodded continuing: _Ezio is a little upset that you do not remember him. He says to think back to Italy with the Sleeping Fox inn and you losing to the guy in orange with the cards._

Ezio blinked and shifted backwards. _He knows about Volpe …_ Ezio decided to ask later as he watched Desmond type away at the letters on the long rectangle.

_We are hanging out on the Black Island right now. We had a race down the bridge, Ezio won. I can't wait to hear from you again. I hope your trip is going well._

_Love, D._

"And Send." Desmond said clicking on the send button. "We'll have to let Clay do the rest." He replied looking up at Ezio.

Ezio nodded and turned to look around the office. "So many things have changed since my time." He said. Desmond nodded. "Well, if you want I can bring you up to speed on how to use a computer. Just in case you have to use one."

Ezio shrugged. "Might be a good idea but I do not know if I could learn."

Desmond nodded. "Here. I'll teach you the basics. We'll go slowly so you can ask questions."

William picked at the hot cakes from the Mc Donald's meal that Vixen had gotten him. It was eight in the morning and he was wondering if the letter got to Desmond and Clay. Shaun typed on the computer as he worked on the data file that they had gotten in the first letter. "From what I can tell part of it is coordinates, but only half. The other half is missing. Then there is some sort of uplink, it looks like it goes to the Animus but the uplink is incomplete. I think it is a set of redirect links. You need all of them to get to where it goes."

William nodded, "Any idea where it might go?" Shaun shook his head. "That's the thing bill. I don't. Not without the rest of the links. That's kind of what I just said."

William nodded and looked up as they heard a dinging sound. Shaun opened the inbox and ran the scanner on it.

"It's another letter from Clay." He said. William looked up as Shaun read it.

"Man in orange with cards?" William asked. Rebecca snapped. "He must mean Volpe. The Sleeping Fox inn was a spy network area for the Assassins in Rome. This must mean that Ezio really is there some how."

"Well that adds to the problem now doesn't it? How can Ezio be in the Animus? Better yet, how can we find out this stuff without the Templars catching on?"

"Our best bet is to continue to talk to Desmond, Clay and Ezio through the emails. The more we send the more Clay will give us what we need." William said as Shawn nodded. "I've got a letter now." He said and began typing

_Hey Guy,_

_I heard you were around town; we should really meet up at some point. Vix is excited to find out that you came into town she wants to show you the farm. There isn't much growing right now but the animals are awesome. _

_Let me know when we can meet up again._

_Fawks._

Ezio lay on the couch trying to sleep. The day had been long and exhausting and he would rather not go back outside. The yard looked normal but past the fence was an empty expanse and the whole place did not look natural. He shifted as he heard the 'you have mail' sound from the office. He paused but he did not hear any movement. He walked down the hall into one of the bedrooms. Desmond was on the bed sleeping facing the bed. Something about how Desmond was right now made him not want to wake up the younger assassin. He nodded and went to the office.

Desmond had taught him a little bit about the computer. The oval object was a mouse and it moved the arrow and allowed you to interact with the screen. The thing with letters was a keyboard which allowed you to write on the screen.

He clicked the 'read' button like Desmond had told him. He did not understand how it worked but Desmond had admitted that 99% of people who owned a computer in his time did not know how it worked either and simply accepted that it did, which in a strange way made Ezio feel better.

He thought a moment; he remembered that Desmond said they should use fake names. Guy Fawks was Shawn's alias, a reference to a man from history that Shawn identified with. The only thing people were not sure of is if Guy Fawks was an assassin or simply someone who took the initiative.

He nodded as he typed out a small letter, hen pecking the keys as he went instead of a long flowing clatter of fingers flying like Desmond had done.

_It sounds like everyone is in town right now. I hope to be able to see vix's farm before we leave. I like to ride the horses, does she have any?Desmond is asleep so I am typing instead. I cannot wait to meet Bill again and beat him at cards again._

_Farewell_

_Ezio_

He paused for a moment and tapped the backspace key a few times until only the "E" remained. Desmond had suggested doing that, and then clicked send hoping he did it right. He shook his head; he would have Desmond do the next one. He was in way over his head with this stuff.

Shaun smiled as the new letter came and he decrypted it. Several new links came up and he followed them quickly, one by one as they led to the end of the path, sending letters to Desmond and Ezio. Finally near the end of the line he jumped up!

"I Got It!" He called. Vixen and William looked at him as he showed them the algorithm and coordinates. "The coordinates lead to an Abstergo research facility about three hours away from here" he said as William looked at the algorithm. "What is that?" he asked.

"I don't know. I can't upload it to the computer; it's only compatible on the memory core. Clay calls it 'Alarm Clock"."

"So we have to upload it to the Animus" Vixen said sitting down at the Animus' computer.

Shaun was already climbing into the animus. He pulled off his glasses and glared at William to debate it. "He is better at decrypting than either of us." Vixen said. William finally nodded and sat down on the computer. "Okay. Let's do this." He said as Vixen moved to his side and flipped the switches.

Shaun's vision went blurry and he opened his eyes to the white room. _"Alright. I'm about to upload the Alarm Clock program. Ready?"_ _Vixen asked. "That's kind of why I'm in here." Shaun replied as he stood waiting._

Vixen hit a few keys and the data appeared around Shaun. He took a breath and found symbols scattered around him. He paused for a minute looking at them,

"_So what are all these glyphs for?" William asked. Shaun paused and snapped. "The Links had glyphs that you had to upload to get to the next link."_

"_Try pressing them in the order you got them in." Vixen said. "I'll pull up the list in case that is not the proper solution." _He quickly began to work at it. Pressing certain symbols as Sixteen had instructed. The world turned black with a grey floor. The symbols became complex equations and flowed around Shaun.

'_Looks like you were right Shaun." William said. "I'm never wrong bill. I figured you would have learned it by know. In any case, I've got it. Upload it to me" Shaun said. "Beginning the process now." Vixen replied_

The numbers and letters swirled around Shaun in a vortex and finally disappeared as strange light threads appeared on his skin. _"Okay. It's uploaded. Pulling you out." William said._

Shaun blinked and slowly pushed himself up. Shaun put his glasses back on and nodded as William gathered up the tools they would need. Shaun grabbed a bag as he and Vixen began to pack themselves. "We got everything? Let's go." He said walking out tossing the keys to Vixen.

William paused and ran to the computer.

_Dear Son._

_I'm on my way home. See you soon_

_Dad._


	4. Chapter 4

The gray van pulled up outside the Abstergo building. Vixen wore her hair up in a braid as she cut the engine. She turned to the back, she wore a Camo hat and dark shades. "Well?" she asked.

Shaun was in the back typing on the laptop. "Got it. Sixteen says…

Ezio and Desmond are on the fifth floor. Far side. We'll have to go through the elevator and up." He replied. William nodded and opened the door walking out. Vixen nodded and drove off. Rounding the corner. Shaun picked up a PDA. "Well. Here's hoping we aren't too late." She said. Shaun nodded as he did a bit more hacking.

William walked around the building carefully keeping an eye out for security. He turned and found the entrance area for cars. There was a man standing in the booth. "HEY!" he called. The man looked at him. "I'm sorry to bother you but do you have a phone I could use? My car broke down over that way and my cell phone is dead." The man eyed him. "I'll call you a truck." He said pulling out an I-Phone. As he did William grabbed the wires of the security camera and pulled them off. "HEY!" the man said and William grabbed his neck and banged his head on the window. The man tried to fight back but William quickly gained the upper hand and knocked him out setting him up in the booth again.

Vixen and Shaun walked around the corner and they moved around the bar. They ran to the stairs and Shaun plugged in the PDA. He hit a few buttons and the light switched to green and the door opened. He disconnected and William threw open the doors.

They moved up through the hall and saw two security guards. Vixen and William raced ahead of Shaun and tackled them. The preemptive strike caught the guards off their balance and they were easily disarmed and dealt with. Vixen swung the baton a few times and nodded. It would work. "Where to Shaun?" she asked. Shaun held the PDA, "According to the blueprints that we have, the quickest way to the others is through the elevator on the other side of the building. It's a complete maze to get there. I can't find us a quick path with a short amount of time."

Vixen darted ahead of them, "Then we find our own way." She said as she ran ahead. They ran to catch up to her and the trio stopped as they heard an alarm go off.

"Damn they found us." She said as they heard something over the intercom. "Alert! Alert! Code Blue. Alert! Alert! Code Blue. All nonessential personnel are to leave the building until further notice, all security report to your posts. All remaining personnel please go to your advised locations and wait further instructions. I repeat, we have a Code Blue, please report to your areas and all non essential personnel leave the building until you are contacted by your supervisor."

"Sounds like something is up." Vixen said. Shaun gave her a look. "Oh really? I'm sorry, I couldn't tell with the Code Blue thing happening." She glared at him. "I'm saying it because I'm wondering aloud what a "Code Blue is. Let's try to find a security area and figure out what a Code blue is." She said looking around.

"The nearest security room is to our left in the next hallway, third room." William said taking the pad from Shaun.

They moved and slowly approached the room. They nodded and Shaun leapt into the room. The three guards were pre emptied and fell easily.

Shaun pulled the guard out of the chair and threw him on the ground. William looked at the screens and Vixen guarded the hall. "All clear for now."

Shaun tapped a few keys and sighed. "It's encrypted. Figures. Give me a moment." He said, his hands flying on the keyboard. "Fortunately our friend hadn't logged out or this would be twice as hard as it is now." He said as he continued

William searched through the security TV screens on the floor. "Here!" he said pointing to a screen. Two Animus were next to each other. One held Desmond and the other had a man in Renaissance Assassin garb. Shaun looked up and nodded. "That is definitely Ezio Auditore… But how did someone who died centuries before end up in the same room as Desmond?"

Vixen shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe Ezio does." She said as she continued looking.

"Got it!" Shaun said… "Oh my…"

"What is it?" William asked looking over his shoulder.

"Code blue was apparently created at the beginning of this month when Abstergo apparently decided to do research on "Bacteria and other malignant forms of health to improve the health and life of all humanity."

Vixen scoffed.

"Apparently what its purpose is, is that sometimes you have an accidental outbreak of bacteria or radiation. You want to confine it fast and efficiently without any accidental problems on the side from people getting poisoned or sick. So when something bad happens you set up a Code Blue. All non-essential people leave to keep them from getting contaminated and finding out things they aren't supposed to, security keeps the area quarantined until it's taken care of and the Templars do what they really want to do without prying eyes of people who don't know anything more than a paycheck every two weeks."

"Can't blame em for an honest living Shaun." Vixen said.

"Really? I can't?" Shaun said.

"To them its honest. It feeds and clothes their families. Puts roofs over their heads. They don't see the bad in it because we protect them. High school big brothers protecting our elementary siblings from big bad middle school bullies."

"You're starting to sound like your brother you know that?" William said.

"Can't blame me for how I was raised Will. Nor can you blame him." Vixen said.

"Maybe I can." William said as the televisions turned to static then fixed.

"There, I've looped old footage. We have about a three hours. Good news. I found Rebecca and opened her cell. Should be seeing her soon." He said.

"More than enough time." Vixen said.

William nodded and followed Shaun out of the office shutting the door behind them.

Hang on Desmond. We're coming for you. William thought

* * * * *

* * *

The voices around him murmured in and out. The back of his head hurt like he had been hit hard. What happened?

Feeling of Vertigo, like something was pulling him apart and together at the same time. The ground falling from beneath him. Dark room. Hands grabbing him. Something hitting his head. Cloth over his nose and mouth. Breathing in something sweet. Feeling tired. Darkness…

He gave a soft moan. The voices became sharper.

"He's waking up." A male voice said.

"Put him under." Another ordered.

Altair felt his hands and feet, they were strapped down.

He rolled his head lazily and looked to the side through barely cracked lids; his hands were strapped down onto some sort of table that seemed to be rolling. The straps weren't very tight but enough to hold him down and looked like cloth. He shuffled some but couldn't move far. He rolled his head lazily backup and concentrated. The world gained a darker tone, he still could not see them clearly but their forms were still red. A hand stuck a cloth over his nose and mouth. He held his breath quickly; feeling light headed again but fought to stay awake. He closed his eyes and went limp.

The hand remained until he felt his lungs burn from not breathing but soon it lifted and the cart-stretcher moved onwards. He heard them talk more. "Do you think this will work? The first male asked, the voice was accented unfamiliarly. Almost like he was talking through his nose. The second spoke up. "It better…There are several people who will end our lives if it doesn't." the second said, this one had a deeper voice.

"I don't want to think about failure." Nose voice said.

"That's some sort of weapon…It's interesting how they made them so long ago with technology that was more advanced than the time." Deep voice said.

The cart stopped. They looked at him. "Should we give him more just in case?" deep voice asked.

"Best bet." Nose voice said. "This guy was the best of them. I hate to be unprepared. But be careful. Stuff will be fatal if too much. Just barely enough to reset the clock."

Altair took another breath just before the man put the cloth on his face again. It pushed down hard hurting his face but he kept his breath. He focused, staying perfectly still. The cloth was removed.

"There, he's even more still now." Nose said. "Shouldn't be a problem moving him. After this we check on the other two. We need to scrub that virus out of the system so we have control of their memories again."

"Still… The Great Altair…I know he's our enemy but to see him face to face…It's amazing. Like seeing George Washington in person." Deep voice said tossing something and catching it; probably his bracer from the sound of it.

They unstrapped his left arm.

Altair opened his eyes and thrust his fist upwards into one of their faces. He turned and grabbed a man with dark skin and head butted him. He was right, the man held his bracer. He grabbed it from him and twisted it on his wrist pulling out the blade. He cut his other arm free as his neck was grabbed by the other man. He threw his head back hard and knocked the other man then twisted and stabbed him. The dark man was trying to get up and crawl towards some sort of red button thing. He moved swiftly and cut his feet free and leapt off the cart and killed the man. He adjusted his bracer and fastened it completely; he had almost lost it off his arm that last time.

He stood up and faltered for a moment, his head dizzy with whatever they had put on the cloth. He shook his head to get rid of the feeling and -stepped outside the room and looked around. No one was in sight; he thought he felt the cart take a left turn to enter the room. He nodded to himself and headed right. He looked around the corner and found no one there. He moved swiftly through the hall. He entered an open area.

He jumped at the sound of some sort of popping sound in the distance. He looked around and heard voices ahead of him.

"The bitch got out!"

"What? HOW!?"

The voices were a cacophony of confusion. A gift he could use to his advantage. Someone had apparently escaped somehow. He didn'tknow where or who these people were but he felt deep inside that these men were Templars. He moved further into the larger room taking shelter behind desks. He focused again and he brought on eagle vision. The three guards were red. He slowed his breathing and ran forwards. He impaled the one in the middle and turned bringing up his hand to block the other's attack and head butted him. He brought his elbow into the other mans head and knocked him hard against the floor. He pushed off and ran down the next hall. He saw the trail on the ground and followed it. He stumbled and paused for a moment as he turned his head. An empty room surrounded by glass held his weapons.

He quickly entered and gathered them up and strapped them on. He looked around, there had to be a fast way out of wherever he was, he went out of the office and took a left and followed the hall into another fork. He looked left and right, and then concentrated. Trail going left. He followed.

He slowed to a halt as he heard a voice ahead of him. "I don't care what you have to do. Find him and stop him. Don't kill him. We need him. Do you understand?"

Are they talking about me? And if they are; what am I here for that they want me alive? Altair thought. He looked around and turned right running through the endless maze of sectioned off places and halls.

* * * * *

Rebecca fell back behind a wall as she heard people approaching. She watched as three guards ran by her. She looked at them as she turned and ran ducking behind another wall. "come on Desmond, where are you?" she muttered. "Found you!" she turned as a guard ran at her. She gripped the pipe in her hand and swung it upwards impacting the man in the chin. She brought it down and to the right hitting the side of his head and gripping it with both hands brought it up and hard against him toppling him backwards. She turned and kept running and found another elevator.

"Elevator, elevator elevator. Haven't these people heard of stairs?" she thought. She froze as she heard it ding and darted back to a small alcove in a support wall. She looked over and gave a sigh of relief as she saw Shawn, William and a red haired chick with them.

"Shaun!" she called from the hall. He turned. "Rebecca!" he and William called together.

"Are you hurt Rebecca?" William asked. "Nothing that won't heal. You seen Desmond? I can't find him." She answered. "We found a blueprint of the area and a security area. We think their being held in an area on the opposite side of this floor." The woman said. "Who's she?"

"Vixen." She replied. "We best go find Desmond and Ezio."

"Ez-Ezio? Wait." Rebecca said but Shawn shook her off. "Not now Rebecca, lets move." He said grabbing her and pulling her along. They ran through the hall and stopped at a fork. "This way!" Shaun said leading them through the maze of halls and offices.

They darted in and out of hallways as they searched. "Tell me we're getting near." William said as a new alarm came.

"Alert, Alert. Code Red Sigma. Alert alert, code red sigma"

"THAT." Shaun said. "Would be the intruder alarm. They know we're here now…" he said. Vixen nodded. "Then we move faster and keep our eyes open more." She said. "Besides. I was wondering whenthey'd notice."

William shook his head as he moved forwards. He had to find them soon. "Rebecca. What did they want Desmond for? Do you know?"

"Not really. They didn't say much for me except for marking me as a guinea pig for something. I hadn't heard from Desmond since I was dragged into Doctor Frankenstein office." She replied.

They paused and backed up into the wall as guards ran across the hall. Shaun looked over. "Alright it's clear. Looks like there's an office up ahead. Let's go see what we can find."

They crowded into the small office and looked around. "Not much to find here. Lets check the computer." William said. Rebecca slid into the chair and typed quickly. "Okay. I think I got most of this. It's too much to decode now but I can… Someone get me a CD."

Shaun passed her a few. She set them in the drive and copied the entire hard drive onto them. "Did we get it?" William asked. "Yea. I got most of the stuff. Not a lot but enough to work with hopefully."Rebecca replied

"Okay. Lets find Desmond and Ezio." Shaun said.

They looked through the hall and moved right. The entire place was a maze. Vixen felt that they had passed the same points continuously.

They turned the corner and stumbled to a halt as five guards and a man in a white lab jacket stood in their way. The man had salt and pepper hair and looked to be in his late forties.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.


	5. Chapter 5

"Going Somewhere?"

Altair paused as he heard the voices. He carefully crept up to the wall and looked past it. Standing there were four people, two men and two women while blocking them was a man in a white coat and the guards with weapons.

One of the men, the older looking one with peppered hair stepped forwards. "Where is my son you bastard!" he shouted. "Mr. Miles. Young Desmond is currently unavailable. Why not come quietly?"

"Like we'd go anywhere with you templar scum." The red haired woman said.

Altair took in a breath, he narrowed his eyes and focused his mind. The world turned to eagle vision. The four in front of the guards were blue while the guards and the white coat was red. Templars... I should have figured...So are they...?

The scientist shook his head. "Tch... You assassins are all the same aren't you... Take-"

The sound of footsteps running caught their attention as a man in assassins robes jumped in the air. He held out his left hand as a hidden blade locked into place.

Altiar watched the red haired woman and the man with blonde hair run forwards as all eyes were on him.

Dear Son

I'm on my way home. See you soon.

Dad.

Desmond smiled as he saw these words. He moved to the garage where ezio had been practicing some moves. Ezio turned and looked at Desmond. "What is it?" he asked.

"Dad's on his way. They're..Nggh..." Desmond flinched and collapsed to his knees holding his head. "Desmond?" Ezio asked running to the younger assassin. Ezio flinched as he felt a strange numb sensation spread through his body. "What is going on?"

A figure flashed and came through the door grabbing Desmond and hauling him up the steps into the house. "The _temmmmppllaarrs_ have found this place. We got to **_geetttt_**you two moving."

Desmond pulled himself up with Clay's help. They moved into the house and through the back door which now lead to a bazzarr from the middle east.

"Nice." Desmond said when they heard a sound. "It sounds like they are working hard now. They are getting closer." Clay said and he stood in front of them. "You all go forwards. Lose yourselves in the programming. I'll keep them off your tail as much as I can."

"Thanks clay." Desmond said as he and Ezio ran through the bazzar.

* * * * *

The assassins stood among the dead guard bodies, William stood over the scientist holding him against the wall by his throat, a knife in his hand. "Now. Where. Is. My. Son?" he demanded.

The scientist glared. "Your son is finished. He's in coma and we can't pull him out of it. Even if you find him he's gone. Not even we can rouse him. Face it Assassins. Even if you want to get him out you won't get out alive. None of you will!"

"What makes you so sure?" Altair asked.

The Templar scientist laughed. "All the pieces are here in this building. We only need to tie you all down then we can finally find the Key and the Door!" the scientist grinned as he coughed up foam and his eyes rolled back. Bill felt his arm grabbed by Shaun. "Leave him bill. We know where to look for Desmond and Ezio."

"I'm more worried about him." Vixen said pointing to the newcomer. He withdrew his hidden blade and looked at them. "You are Assassins." he said. Vixen nodded. "We are. Who are you?" She demanded.

"I am Altair ibin-la-ahad" he said.

"No way... That... You can't be Altair." the woman with black hair exclaimed

"And why not?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Because Altair Ibin La Ahad has been dead for almost two thousand years." Rebecca stammered. Altair froze at this.

What? Dead? She isn't lying. I can tell she isn't but...

"No... He is Altair..." Shaun said. They all looked at him. "What? Shaun have you gone crazy?" Rebecca said.

The man who was called Shaun looked at Altiar. "I believe you and I know you are telling the truth. I have a feeling you are one of the 'pieces' the templar was talking about. Which means we need to get you out of here before we worry about what they want to do. But we also have to get two other assassins out of here."

Altair paused. Everything they were saying was completely beyond what he could understand and yet he also felt they were telling the truth. The Templars had tried to capture him. These assassins were looking for two others and as a member of the Brotherhood he felt the compulsion to aid them as well. And to be honest I'm not getting anywhere on my own. My instincts say to go with them and I can tell by my Eaglevision that they aren't my enemies.

"Very well... But I'd like an explanation as to what you all mean by I am dead and what is going on around here."

The red haired woman nodded. "Thats a fair enough request. But just so you know we're not too sure just yet what is going on so we might not be able to answer all your questions."

Altair nodded. "Very well. I can accept that. For now. Where do we go to find the other two assassins?"

Shaun nodded. "This way."

Altair nodded and followed the blonde man, noting that the older man and the woman with dark hair were behind him and the woman with red hair made a point to travel near him on his right.

So they have as much uncertainty about me as I have for them. I guess this should be understood. Uncertainty begets uncertainty.

They ran through the halls mowing down guards and obstacles as they went. "keep an eye out. They should be nearby." the man said. They split up into two groups as they searched. Bill and Shaun going one way and Rebecca, Altair and Vixin going another.

Vixen looked into an empty room. The third they found. "It is unsettling. They are most likely awaiting an ambush." Altair said. Vixen shook her head. "The guards yes but the average rank and file no."

"Why are you so quick to dismiss an ambush?"

"Most of the normal people, those who aren't templars, have left the building already. These must be their empty offices." She said as Rebecca went to a computer. She moved the seat to find a purse still underneath it. "Someone must have left it behind in the rush to get everyone out. She grabbed a few tissues from the box and wrapped her hand in them to move the purse. Vixen found an empty drawer and the set it in to hide it from anyone who might take advantage of it.

"So what are you doing?" Altair asked. "i'm going to see what is going on in this area. The office computers were full of information but I want to see what else is going on. She turned on the computer as music came on. The screen was blue with pink letters and cartoonish daises swirling on the screen. The letters scanned up the screen. Vixen read them and clapped her hand over her mouth while she doubled over.

"What?" Altair asked looking over the screen. "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you." He looked at the two women. "So is this a strange declaration of love?" he asked confused.

Vixen shook her head. "It's a joke. Don't worry about it. It would take a long time to explain and we don't have the time right now. Remind me later and I'll try and explain it." Altair shook his head. "I will go take watch at the door." he said. Vixen watched as Rebecca tried to bypass the program but it continuously restarted.

Shaun and William moved carefully around the rooms as they searched, Willam growing more frantic and eager as the time went on. More guards were going to be coming and they had to find Desmond soon.

"Bill!" Shaun called. He turned to find him waving near a wall and pointing in. They carefully watched the room, four templar scientists were working with great difficulty over two men. Altair turned as he saw Shaun waving. "The others have found something." he said and they moved to join them.

"They are your companions?" Altair asked gesturing to the two n the table as his group joined them.

William nodded. "It looks like they are trying to scrub the system." Shaun said. "The virus Clay put in must have been fairly difficult to beat."

"We checked it out on the computer in the other room." Vixen smiled. "Clay has a sense of humor."

"How so?" Shaun asked.

"He made the computer sing Daisy Bell." she replied.

"Oh Hal..." Shaun groaned as they turned back. "So how do we go for this?"

"More guards are going to be on the way soon." Rebecca said grim.

"Might I suggest the straightforward approach?" Altair asked.

"Lets go then." Vixen said standing up. The two of them moved swiftly taking out the first two scientists by surprise. Altair climbed up over the body of Desmond and lept from the table onto another scientist as Vixen moved around the table and shanked the one over Ezio.

William Shaun and Rebecca moved swiftly through the room to the sides of the two assassins as Altair and Vixen turned back to them finishing off the scientists.

Shaun moved to the empty animus table. "Ready when you are Rebecca." he said climbing on. Rebecca moved to his table as he laid down taking off his glasses. Altair looked over Desmond as Rebecca put shaun under.

"They are so still. What is wrong with them?" he asked. Vixen looked at them. "They are... it's complicated. We'll explain when we have time but for now lets keep watch."

Altair moved to the door as Rebecca's voice was heard. "Shaun is going under."

William moved to Desmond's side working on the pad. "It looks like the Templars are working on the code from several various areas. They are trying to get through adn stop us at the same time but Clay's virus is going as fast as they are scrubbing."

Ezio and Desmond ran through Acre's Bazzar. The red flashing orbs that the templars sent were still following them, their movements strange like they were not really real. Must be the Anti-virus or something desmond thought. They ran through the end of the market and found themselves out in an field of grass. "Wait… This is the area outside of Monterrigoni." Ezio said.

"What's going on?" Desmond said. "The Templars are trying to find you." Sixteen said walking behind them. "They're scrubbing the system," he chuckled madly, "like we're little viruses. But your friend has gotten in too and he's keeping them off your tail for now so I suggest the two of you start running." He said disappearing.

"Run? Where to?" Desmond asked.

"The sanctuary!" a voice called.

"Shaun? Where are you?"

"I'm in the animus with you Desmond where else would I be? The two of you have to get to the Assassin sanctuary. I stuck the portal there to get you all out. I'm trying to keep the Templars at bay but I can only do so much." Shaun called.

Ezo and Desmond didn't ask any more questions and simply started running. The two of them ran through the gates and up a set of barrels. Desmond turned around and saw the red flashing orbs. "They're behind us!" he shouted as they leapt down and ran through the streets. They darted up the stairs but a set of orbs came out of the Vila entrance.

"Desmond! Up here!" Ezio called climbing up the wall. Desmond followed and ran after Ezio as they dropped from the edge of the villa and went through the library.

William gripped Desmonds hand as Rebecca tried to keep the templars off the Animus. "They aren't going to make it!" she called. "Desmond will!" William said. Altair stood behind them and watched as Vixen turned. "Templars!" she said moving out of the room. "I'll handle them." Altair said. She looked up at him. "Left or right?"

Altair went left and Vixen darted right as the guards ran towards the room.

Ezio dove through the library door and across the floor into the secret area. Desmond followed and the two pushed down the steps. A golden vortex was waiting in the center of the room. The world started crashing around them. They lept onto the ledge of the stairs and jumped.


	6. Chapter 6

Desmond flinched and grabbed Williams hand reflexively. William looked up leaning over his son's body. Desmond looked through blurry vision and blinked it off. "Dad?" he asked. "We're here son." His father said urgently

Desmond slowly pushed himself up and looked over to where the other body was laying. "Get up slowly." Rebecca advised helping the Italian Assassin sit up. "Ezio?" Desmond said turning to where Rebecca was now hovering. He nodded as he let her help him sit up. "I'm here. Mostly…" Rebecca moved to Shaun's side and helped him sit up. "Nice job Shaun." Desmond said. Shaun gave a small smile. "Of course it's a nice job Desmond. I was the one doing it."

Vixen leaned in the door. "Okay, have you all… Good. You two are up. We need to get moving. There is seriously going to be a LOT of Templars and guards coming if we don't hurry.

Shaun swung his legs over and threw himself off the Animus and picked up the baton he dropped on the floor. "Let's get moving." he said as Ezio and Desmond climbed off too. They both stumbled. Ezio grabbed the table and steadied himself. "You okay?" Rebecca said. "Yes, just a bit shaky. I'm fine now." He said. "Desmond?" they turned to find him leaning on William. "I dunno… I feel… I need a minute." William nodded and grabbed his son's arm throwing it over his shoulder.

"We need to leave while they are regrouping." Altair said. Desmond looked up and blinked. "Okay. Coincidence has been officially ruled out." He said staring at Altair. Ezio looked confused. "What?" he asked. Part of his mind went to the Assassin Sanctuary in Monterrigoni where the statue of Altair stood. The man in the assassin robes looked remarkably like him but his mind was too foggy to think any more on the subject.

"I'm with Desmond on this but unfortunately we don't have time to explain, we need to get the three of you out of here now." Shaun said walking out.

"I'll take Desmond. Ezio do you need help? "William asked but the assassin shook his head. "I'll be fine for now."

"Alright, let's move. There's a set of stairs nearby. We can move down them." Vixen said as she and Altair took the lead.

They paused and watched as the security went around looking for them. They approached the stairs and Shaun tried to push the bar. "Damn we need a code."

Ezio looked at the button pad. "This here right?" he asked. Rebecca nodded, Yea but…" she said as Ezio tilted his head and concentrated. He looked a moment then pressed a set of buttons. Shaun pushed the door and it opened. "Gotta love Eagle Sense." Desmond said. They moved slowly and carefully down the stairs. "Okay. We have two floors to go down and then we can get to the van."

"Van?" Altair repeated.

"Later Altair." Desmond said as he pushed away from his father. "We'll explain everything as we know it but now and here aren't the time and place to do it." He said moving down on his own.

Altair paused at the steps looking at him. Desmond turned. "Later." Desmond said more pointedly. " Look, I know you are confused and suspicious of us and I promise as soon as the Templars are off the trail I'll explain everything to the both of you as best I can. But right now is not the time. We. Need. To. Go." Altair narrowed his eyes and nodded. He didn't understand why but instinctively he trusted Desmond.

They moved down the stairs swiftly, Desmond gaining more footing as they went. They burst through the door at the end and found a set of guards.

"Figures." Rebecca said but Ezio and Altair were already moving with Desmond and Vixen behind them. The two assassins leapt up at the same time, the chink of their blades clickinginto place echoed as they moved through the group, Desmond and Vixen covering their backs they made short work of the remaining guards. "Desmond!"

Altair and Ezio turned at Williams voice in time to catch Desmond. "Thanks." He said. The two nodded.

"You alright Desmond? You look a little pale." Rebecca said. Ezio flexed his hand. "You feel a little warm." Desmond shook his head. "I dunno. I feel weird."

"Come on. We can check you out when we get back to Tearmann." Vixen said as they darted across the street to the large Wal Mart parking lot. William opened the doors to the back and Vixen hopped inside, Desmond and Rebecca followed suit as Shaun and William went to the front. "Come in guys."

"What is this?" Altair said taking a small step back uncertain.

"You ever ride in a cart?" Desmond said.

Altair nodded. "Same concept only it's not driven by horses but an engine."

Ezio shook his head. "Just go with it Altair. It's a lot easier than asking how." He said climbing in. Altair shook his head muttering something, Vixen shut the doors as the van began to move.

"What is Tearmann?" Altair asked looking to Vixen.

"A sanctuary. We can stay there until we sort things out." She said, her violet eyes looking around them as she crossed her legs and leaned her head back and seemed to stare off into space.

"So what is going on?" Altair said looking to the rest of them. "And who are you?" he demanded.

"Sorry. Forgot we hadn't introduced ourselves and we still owed you answers. I'm Rebecca Crane, This is Desmond Miles." Rebecca said pointing to Desmond.

"I'm Vixen. That is Shaun Hastings and William Miles, desmond's father" the redhead replied smiling. Desmond shook his head. "good luck getting her real name."

"I am Ezio Auditore Da Firenze." Ezio said giving a small bow.

Altair seemed to relax a little. "Altair Ibn-La'Ahid" he answered.

Ezio smiled and nodded. "Your name is known to me Altair. As well as tales of your deeds." Altiar blinked. "You end up being pretty famous Altair. You set the standard for what is best." Desmond said.

Altair looked away. "I should not…'best' and 'greatest' ended up harming my brothers and sisters in the end." Desmond nodded. "It did…But you ended up being the best for more than just your abilities Altair. You became wise, mature, you grew up from a cocky brat with a blade to a true leader." He reassured.

"You speak as if you know my future." Altiar said suspiciously, how long had it been since he had left? A year, five? Ten? Yet they spoke as if they knew.

"I think we're about at a good point to start explaining desmond." Vixen said. "Alright, Altair, I know this is…"

Desmond shifted to sit across from the other assassins near the door. "I'll do it Vixen." She turned and looked at him. "You sure? You look like you should be using this ride to rest and catch a nap not explain what's been going on."

Desmond shook his head. "I can do it." Rebecca and Vixen looked at each other. "Okay. But if you find yourself nodding off you let us know and we'll take over, alright?" Rebecca said.

Desmond nodded. "Alright." William looked back in the mirror. "You shouldn't Desmond. You aren't exactly in the best of health right now." Desmond sighed. "I have it Dad." He shook his head and crossed his legs in front of him.

"Okay. We don't know why or how yet but the Templars have found a way to bring people from the past to the future. Whatever the reason is, it can't be good." Desmond began as Rebecca looked at them holding up a CD. 'I swiped a lot of their files. We should be able to find something in them that says what they are planning."

Desmond nodded. "Right now..." He hesitated then started again "The year is 2012. I know that's hard to believe but if you don't take a look outside the window. A LOT has changed since the time that the both of you knew. We can help you adapt but right now the only people you can trust right now are in this van. Everyone here is an Assassin who wants to stop the Templars."

"Well we do know a few things right now." Shaun said from the front. "We know that they've been looking into some sort of artifact and how to open it since the beginning of the month. Why? We don't know, but they've been getting really big within the past week."

"A piece of Eden?" Ezio suggested. "We don't know yet. That's what Rebecca and I will be looking for when we get back to the ranch." Shaun replied

"Ranch?" Ezio asked.

"Tearmann. It's a ranch that my family has. More a farm actually, but there hasn't been any real heavy duty farming done since…the eighteen hundreds… Maybe the early nineteen hundreds. I know we stopped using it as a farm farm since the second world war."

"Second World war?" Altair said.

"We need to get you guys a history book." Rebecca said. "I have one at the ranch. You were saying Desmond." Vixen said turning the conversation back to the way it was going before.

"I have a question. You said you were counting out coincidence now when you saw me. Why did you say that?" Altair asked.

"Because…" Desmond said as his head bowed a little. He jumped back up and shook it. "Desmond…rest up. We'll take the explanations from here." Rebecca said. 'I'm… Okay…" he said as he shifted to lean against the wall. His head was laid back and he was out almost immediately without knowing it.

"Thinking on it, how do you feel Ezio?" she asked.

"Tired, hungry, thirsty." He replied. "Why?"

"The records we saw on the Animus-"

"Animus?" Altair asked.

"That machine Ezio and Desmond were in. It's called an Animus. The records for both of you said you were in there for almost three days. No food, rest, water. That takes a toll on a persons health." Vixen said. "We need to get you guys fed and rested. Altair, how are you feeling?"

Altair shrugged. "Fine. I'm feeling like I should eat but not starving. I don't feel tired or ill." William nodded looking in the mirror. "They must have brought you to our time recently." Shaun tapped the steering wheel. "Probably that Code Blue we heard today."

"What's a code blue?" Ezio asked.

"The templars employ people who aren't templars a lot nowadays. Helps them look normal. When they don't want the average joe schmoe to see what's going on they call a Code Blue under some sort of dangerous conditions. Radiation, Virus or spore release. The Guards escort the normal people out and to safety and the Templars do whatever they want behind closed doors. When their finished they inform the workers to resume normal scheduling and to report any "Strange behavior, injuries, health issues ad infinitum to their supervisor." Shaun explained.

"Once they actually did release a bunch of spores. Nothing serous but it caused a few people with allergic reactions to become really sick just to keep up the looks that they know what they are doing."

They all seemed to scoff at this. Altari shook his head. "Treatment of the innocent… Disgusting."

Ezio nodded and seemed to bow his head a bit more. "Ezio… Why don't you take a nap too? It will be another half hour before we get to Tearmann. There we can look at this data, get you all some eats and figure out what's going on."

Ezio sighed and after a moment nodded shifting himself so he could sit back and rest his head against the wall.

"Wait a moment… Altair…" shaun said looking through the rear view mirror. "You can understand us can't you."

Altair nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Rebecca's eyes widened and Vixen looked confused. "Altair…" she asked carefully. "What language do you speak? What are you speaking right now."

"Arabic." He said then looked confused. "Why?"

Vixen looked at them. "We're all speaking English. A completely different language. The orgin languages are completely different than what Arabic was made from. How is it that you can understand us." They looked to Ezio who had his eyes closed. "How much you wanna bet he's talking in Italian."

"If what you say is true then how do we understand each other?" Altair asked.

Vixen crossed her arms puzzled. "Rebecca. You know more about the Animus than I do. Could the bleeding effect cause someone to understand language? Like make Desmond understand Arabic or Italian?"

Rebecca thought for a moment and searched the floor thinking. "I don't know. I mean…Maybe, hypothetically speaking I guess it's possible but…"

"You are aware vixen that none of us besides you and desmond have ever BEEN in an animus correct? At least to the point where you'd have to worry about the bleeding effect. Besides. Ezio may have been in the animus for the translation to take effect but Altair was never in it."

Vixen glared at him in the mirror. "Yes I am Hastings. I'm just trying to figure this out as much as you probably are." She said shaking her head.

The rest of the drive was spent in moderate silence.

The sound of road turned to gravel as the sun started hanging low in the sky. "Here we are." Vixen said getting up and climbing out of the van. Altair moved to climb out.

"Hang on. I have to open the gate." She said. He shrugged. "I need to get up and move."

She shrugged in return and they moved around. A metal barred gate like something from a Gothic mystery was chained and locked. Vixen pulled out a key and unlocked the chain then the gate itself. She and Altair opened it and Shaun drove in.

Altair looked around. There was plains and farmland around them. "This place…it is Tearmann?" he asked. She nodded. "This farm has been in my father's family for generations. In the year 1939 there was a war that encompassed almost all the world, World war two. After that my grandfather never really got the farm up and running although it's still ours. My father inherited it from him and I got it from my father."

Altair nodded. "Doesn't seem to be much of a farm." Vixen shrugged. "It's a farm. Just not as big as it used to be. It's mostly a haven for assassins. Few people know about it since a lot of the records around here were destroyed." She said as they climbed back in. She didn't bother shutting the door. "We have a few plots up ahead for food though. To keep up appearances. The area at the gate isn't fertile enough. To hard and tough for roots to take."

Altair looked around and saw that she was right. The patched, brown and green grassed area that had been full of weeds soon disappered into large dirt plots. The area wasn't filled with plantlife though it had some strings of wheat and other plant pieces. "We just finished the harvest." Vixen commented to no one in particular. "We've got a good pull this year. I'm going to have to go through the records and see which fields to rotate."

Shaun pulled up to an old Victorian style house. Rebecca shook Desmond awake. "Hey, lets go." Desmond blinked a few times and nodded crawling out slowly. He stepped out onto the gravel and leaned back, a loud pop was heard. "Ezio? Hey!" he called. Ezio looked about as tired as Desmond was and crawled out. They shut the doors behind them.

"Come on in." Vixen smiled. She led the way into a beautiful dining room and to a set of stairs. "You guys go ahead and settle down and set up. I'll go see if I can't get some rooms set up for you all." She said leaving them to work.

Desmond slunk to a living room area and threw himself into a large lazy boy chair. Ezio walked around and found Altair doing the same. They seemed to be a bit overwhelmed at the new area and time. "Oh sure… Just let us do the work, that's quite alright." Shaun said as he set down a cardboard box and went back out. Rebecca came in with one herself followed by William with two.

"Need help?" Ezio asked. William shook his head. "This is the last of it." He stretched and yawned. "I think answers are going to have to wait until tomorrow. It's getting late and I don't think we could set up and work tonight." He said as he shook his head trying to stay awake.

Altair gave a gruff sigh. He obviously didn't like the thought of waiting but said nothing and simply went to explore more They all do look like they need sleep. Especially this Desmond and Ezio.

"Hey. I'm finished. Why don't you guys go ahead and get to bed. We'll set up and see what we have." Vixen said returning downstairs. "Desmond?" she said looking over at him shaking his arm gently. "hmm…" he murmured realizing that he was half asleep.

"Go upstairs. First bedroom is yours. Go sleep." William said helping his son up. They disappeared up the stairs. "Ezio. You too. Go sleep." She said.

Ezio nodded and walked up the stairs following the father and son, too tired to argue that he was being treated like a child.

"I want to walk around a bit." Altair said. "I need to think. Clear my head."

Vixen nodded and opened the back door for him. "This area is private property, so as long as you stay in the fenced area you should be fine. There's a lit path that leads to the farmhouse and back so if you get lost." She smiled and showed him how to lock the door when he came back. "Don't stay up too late." She warned and let him be. Altair walked off into the dark of the night.

Shaun and Rebecca moved to set everything up but neither could really stay up to do much more than administrative set up. "I'm going to go for a walk around and make sure everything is set." Vixen said doing a walk around the house and the other three went to bed.


End file.
